Second coming of the Reaper
by TheSilverboar
Summary: Ten year old Jaune, going with his older sister Saffron to Argus to get out from under their parents dominating thumb. A simple encounter gives him the opportunity he would have never gotten otherwise, training. Now watch, as one legend helps give rise to another. (trainer is Maria Calavera, will add her to character list when I fanfiction puts an option for adding her)
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Watching season 6 of RWBY (the free episodes as I can't afford a paid account) and I had the thought of what if Jaune from a young age was trained by Maria Calavera to be her successor as the Grimm Reaper. Jaune's design will be similar to Death from Darksiders as will his fighting style but I'm making some changes to fit the world of RWBY more. The pairing is Jaune/Amber as you saw but his team is going to be a surprise.**

 **AN2: And meeting Jaune's sister Saffron gave me some bad vibes about the rest of Jaune's family. We know Jaune's sisters constantly forced him to dress up as a girl when he didn't want to and never hear of his parents sticking up for him about that. We also know that he is canonically stated to be the only member of the family to be refused training. Saffron is his sister and therefore also trained by the family but she lives as a civilian so the one who was trained left that life and the one who wanted training didn't get it. Secondly, Saffron moved away from her family the second she could. All in all it paints a poor picture for the rest of the Arc family.**

Second coming of the Reaper

Chapter 1

-Jaune-

Stepping out of the store with a grin, the ten-year-old Jaune unwrapped his candy bar and looked around Argus. His sister Saffron and her girlfriend Terra had just moved here to get away from their family and he had left with him, much to his own parents' outrage but Saffron was more than willing to bring him with her. Frowning, he remembered how much he hated living with the rest of his family. His sisters besides Saffron were always pushing him around, forcing him to dress up as a girl, and all-around amusing themselves by humiliating him. His parents never stopped them from doing that and whenever he tried to train or do anything to follow his dream of being a huntsman they would scream and ground him.

Shaking his head, Jaune looked around and saw a little old lady trying to get across the street, some weird things on her eyes closing repeatedly even as the women kept tapping them with a frown. "Hey, do you need some help ma'am?" he asked, always wanting to try and help others.

"Why thank you young man…you are a young man right?" the woman frowned as she grabbed his arm and he helped guide her across the street, "My prosthetic eyes seem to be on the fritz…again."

"I'm a boy." He laughed, and nodded, "My name's Jaune, Jaune Arc."

"I'm Maria Calavera." The old lady smiled, patting his hand, "So Jaune, where's your family?"

"My sister is getting off work." He smiled, proud of his big sister Saffron.

"And your parents?" Maria coaxed.

"They aren't family." He scowled, remembering his parents always punishing him for trying to get his dream, "Family care about you, family encourage you, family want to _help_ you."

"I sense a bit of resentment." The old lady quipped as they got to the other side of the street, "Care to share?"

"…I want to be a huntsman." He hoped she didn't laugh, everyone always laughed at his dream "I want to help people, to help the world." He could feel her looking at him but kept facing forward "I want to be a hero, like my grandpa, and his father, and _his_ father." A wide smile split his face as he pictures himself as a great hero before all the wind fell from his sails, "But my parents won't let me train and I can't join any entry level huntsman academy without their permission. Whenever I tried to train on my own before they would punish me."

"Maybe they just wanted to protect you." Maria offered, the little old lady thankfully not laughing even if she had an odd frown on her face.

"They trained my sisters. Everyone in my family was trained whether they wanted to be or not. But when I want to learn how to be a huntsman I get insults and punishment." He grit his teeth, "When big sis moved away I came with her and I'm never going back!"

"I see." Maria frowned before giving him an odd smile, "Well young man I think you deserve a reward for helping me cross the street. There's a nice little ice cream place nearby so why don't you tell your guardians so they can meet us there."

-Maria-

Sitting back in her chair, Maria watched Jaune happily eat his ice cream as he sat between his sister and her girlfriend who eyed her warily, not as open around strangers as the young boy which was understandable. "Thank you for the ice cream Miss Maria." The young boy smiled at her happily, licking at his frozen treat.

"You're welcome young man." Maria nodded, unable to keep the smile from her face at the innocence of the young man. Taking in a deep breath, her expression turned serious, something the boy's guardians noted as well. "There's actually something I want to talk to you three about."

"And what's that?" Jaune's sister, Saffron, asked warily, clearly protective of her younger sibling.

"Jaune, you told me about your dream." She said as the boy frowned dejectedly, slumping in on himself.

"Yeah and it won't happen. My parents will never allow me to enter combat school." Jaune sniffled even as Saffron and Terra tried to comfort the young boy.

"Young man, I used to be a huntress myself when I was younger." Maria told them, frowning as she looked down at her frail arms. "I…I gave up when I lost my eyes years ago. I stopped helping the world and only focused on myself." She clenched the cane head tightly. "I became a huntsman and travelled, confident in my own skills and thinking I didn't need anyone. I…I'm a disappointment." A single tear slid out from under her prosthetics. "But you young man, you want to be a huntsman for some of the right reasons. You want to help the world, and I want to make up for what I should have been doing long ago."

"What are you saying?" Terra Cotta asked, even as Saffron's eyes lit up in recognition of the offer.

"Assuming you three are willing, I'd like to train Jaune." She smiled as Jaune's face lit up at the offer he never got before, "He'll learn my fighting style and everything I know. I think a nice young man like him deserves the chance to realize his dream."

"Really?" Jaune bounced excitedly "Can I Saff? Can I? Can I? Can I?"

"Jaune, I want to say yes." The blonde woman said softly, "You know I want you to live your dream and if I was better I'd train you myself, but we don't even know her."

"You don't want your brother with a stranger so often." She nodded, not at all insulted by the very fair concern. "If it makes you feel better, I can train him within your sight until you feel more comfortable around me."

"I…don't really have any other reason to protest." Saffron sighed out but looked serious "I'm going to be there for every training session though." The girl said seriously, Terra Cotta nodding in agreement.

"Perfect." Maria smiled, "In that case I'll send word to an old smith friend of mine, so we can make some training weapons for Jaune since he'll be learning my style."

"Thank you Miss Maria!" Jaune rushed over to hug her as she let out a surprised noise before patting the child's head, "I'll be the best student ever, you'll see!"

"I'm sure you will young one." She smiled, "Now I think it's time these old bones got going. I still need to go see someone to fix my eyes." She pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down her name and contact information "Here's my number. Send me a message with yours later and I'll let you know when my old smith friend is ready to make Jaune weapons."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: The images for Jaune's build (obviously no black hair or exposed spine), bone mask, and backup weapon can all be found on the Facebook page for my stories. I will have the images for his main scythes posted when I finish drawing them.**

 **AN2: The twin scythes, Judgement and Sorrow, are actually an in joke with me and my fiancé. We both like to play the Darksiders games and those are the main names we use when we make possessed scythes in Darksiders 2.**

Second Coming of the Reaper

Chapter 2

-Jaune-

"To Jaune!" Saffron cheered happily, raising a glass of soda up in a toast as everyone else at the small party copied her, Jaune blushing awkwardly at all the praise. Currently he was in the backyard of the Cotta-Arc household, Saffron and Terra having thrown a party to celebrate him getting accepted into Beacon, the friends they'd made in Argus over the last seven years being invited.

"Way to go little brother." Terra smiled, ruffling his hair even as his nephew Adrian cheered happily, reaching out for Jaune to hold him.

"You kept your promise." Maria smiled, patting his arm, or what part of it she could reach, "You truly were the best student I could possibly imagine."

"Thank Miss Maria." He smiled, the name he had called her when he was ten having stuck, "Or would you rather I use your old title?"

"Oh hush brat." The previous Grimm Reaper rolled her eyes, not phased at all by his teasing. She had told the Cotta-Arc family about her title and history when he was thirteen, the woman having become a member of the family at that point. She needed the anonymity but, knowing that he wanted to be a hero and have the acknowledgement related to it, she wrote a letter as 'the Grimm Reaper' about how Jaune was her apprentice and if people hear him saying Maria Calavera taught him he would explain how she was his instructor for other areas from dust to survival training. Looking at the wall, Jaune saw the framed acceptance letter from Beacon as well as a picture of him with Saffron, Terra, Adrian, and Maria when he opened it.

"You'd better take care of my weapons boy." A deep voice grunted as Jaune looked over to see Ulthane, the smith friend of Maria, walking over. Ulthane was a massive bear of a man but made the best weapons Jaune had ever seen.

"Of course. Jaune shuddered at what Ulthane would do to him if he didn't, "I would honestly rather fight an Ursa barehanded than piss you off." Ulthane looked smug at that, tapping his large ale tankard to Maria's glass.

"Come on you two," Saffron sighed in exasperation at the two odd additions to the Cotta-Arc clan, "behave. You know how badly Jaune wants to make us proud." The last part was added with a teasing smirk at Jaune who swatted playfully at his sister's pinching fingers.

"Speech!" Tony, a friend of Jaune's from school, called out mockingly, the rest of the guests joining in the chant, "Speech! Speech! Speech! Spee-!"

"Jaune!" an angry voice yelled as Jaune and Saffron both went rigid for a moment before turning to see the other Arcs coming into the backyard, led by his father, Lucien.

"Hello Father." Jaune's tone was frigidly civil as he looked at his parents and the rest of his older sisters, all of them in their full huntsman and huntress regalia, "I don't remember you being invited to the party."

"You aren't going to Beacon boy." Julian Arc scowled, "I've put up with your insubordination long enough. You, _both_ of you, are coming back with us now."

"No we aren't." Saffron frowned, holding Terra and Adrian close. Maria tried to appear intimidating but her old body was too frail to fight, even if her mind was still as sharp as always. Ulthane however was much more intimidating as he reached for his maul.

"I'm seventeen father." Jaune frowned dispassionately, "I've been accepted into Beacon. Saff is twenty-six, she has a job, a wife, a son!" he points at Adrian who gurgled "But you don't give a damn, do you? No, if it didn't fit your precious plan, your fucking legacy, you don't care!" Jaune's aura pulsed angrily on his skin.

"Don't you dare talk to your father that way!" his mother, Giselle, snapped, eyes narrowed at him and Saffron.

"I'll talk to him whatever damn way I want!" Jaune snapped back, "You think you own us. Our lives, our dreams, our thoughts. Well guess what 'mother dear', Saffron and I aren't going to be your toys. Saffron is her own person, my sister is an amazing woman!" he smiled proudly at Saffron and Terra who smiled at him in return, "And I won't be your breeding stock just to pass on the damn name." he saw his parents flinch, "Oh, you thought I'd never figure it out? Why I was the only one in the family who was refused training even when you forced Saffron to train when she didn't want to. Well we've made our own lives, our own decisions. But if you came here looking for a fight," his hand reached for his secondary, heavier hitting, weapon on his back "I'll be happy to oblige. There's even a training ground not far away."

"Yeah!" Tony called out, breaking the awkward silence of the party goers, "This is way better than a speech! Show those ass clowns who's boss Jaune!"

"Kick their teeth in Arc!"

"Crush those posers!"

"We believe in you Jaune!"

"Go Reaper mode on 'em!"

"You want to lose that badly?" one of his sisters, Astrid, asked with a cocky smirk, a battle-axe on her back "I suppose I can spare a few minutes to chop you and your ego down to size. It'll be easier to drag you home if you can't try to walk away."

"So boy, what'll you be using?" Ulthane asked curious and no doubt eager to see his weapons get used for a proper fight "Going to bring out Anubis or use Judgement and Sorrow?"

"Not going to give myself a handicap and pick just one." He told Ulthane seriously, "Astrid was always predictable in a fight before but still hard to take down, and that's assuming she hasn't moved past that flaw. And her semblance means she can't get tired through her own actions or effort. You want to get her down you have to beat her down."

"What is it with your Arcs and your ridiculous semblances." Maria grumbled as they reached the field, their small crowd having grown as people were always eager to see a huntsman fight. "First there's your ridiculous power, then Saffron's, and now this?"

"Lassie, you have precognition reflexes, I don't think that counts as a normal semblance." Ulthane laughed before pausing ton consider, "Honestly though, are _any_ Semblances ordinary?"

"Ready to lose, 'Jane'?" Astrid smirked, using the name she and the others used to always taunt him with when they forced him to dress up as a girl.

"You're pretty confident for someone about to get their ass kicked." Jaune tried to play it off even if he felt a spike of anger at the hated old nickname. Rolling his shoulders, Jaune removed his jacket and shirt, leaving him in just his pants and boots with the light armor they provided, a bone mask adding to the ensemble. Reaching at his back, he pulled out the cleaver like sword he had dubbed Anubis.

"Aura's synched." An Atlas soldier overseeing the training field called out, a screen lighting up to show his and Astrid's faces, both with an aura bar bellow them, "The loser is the first one to leave the boundary line of the training field or to reach fifteen percent aura. Are both fighters ready?" at their nods, the soldier pushed a button and activated the barrier to protect the audience, "Then begin!"

In an instant, Astrid came charging with in with a scream, battle-axe swinging in a blow he knew could likely carve an Ursa in two with a single stroke. Throwing himself back, Jaune rolled into a flip, eyes narrowed through the openings in his mask as he stared down his sister, watching her pull her axe from the dirt. "Running away? I thought you wanted to be a hero Jane?" Astrid taunted, "Heroes and Arcs don't run."

"It's called strategy." Jaune scoffed, "Maybe if you weren't a barbarian stuck at a first-grade reading level you might know what means." Yelling in anger, Astrid, came in with her axe again, swinging it blindly, not having to worry about conserving energy thanks to her semblance. "Oh dear, it seems I touched a nerve." He taunted, focusing before making his move. Pushing aura to his legs, Jaune shot forward, striking up into Astrid's gut with Anubis, Astrid gasping out at the hit she didn't expect before it sent her flying back. Running after her, he flicked his weapon to activate the mechashift, turning Anubis from a cleaver style sword into a two-handed scythe, using it to catch Astrid around the waist and throw her further away.

"You won't beat me that easily." Astrid growled, using her axe to force herself to her feet, spitting out dust as they both glanced at the screen for their aura. Jaune's aura technique had burned off a sliver of aura but his hits on her had taken a little over ten percent of her reserves.

"Kick her ass Jaune!" Saffron shouted from the sidelines, Terra cheering beside her and even little Adrian gurgling even if he didn't know what they were cheering for.

"Hoorah!" he switched Anubis back to its cleaver form and got in close, wanting to get in a few more hits with his heavier weapon to try and tire Astrid out. Snarling, Astrid brought up her axe to block Anubis as they were locked in a power struggle. He was far stronger than her physically, but she couldn't get tired, so a battle of attrition would never go his way.

Rearing his head back, Jaune slammed it into Astrid's nose, his bone mask helping it to hit Harder as Astrid reared back, cursing angrily even as she snapped her nose back into place, letting her Aura finish healing the injured appendage. Putting Anubis back on his back, Jaune drew his twin one-handed scythes, Judgement and Sorrow. Rolling in and around her slower axe strikes, Jaune continued to lash out with his scythes, scoring hit after hit as he whittled down her aura reserves, his own semblance helping him keep going without problem whenever she managed to score a hit or glancing blow.

"I've had enough of this Astrid." Jaune growled, whipping away a bit of dirt from his cheek after Astrid landed a hard punch to his face, "Let's end this." Holding his hand out, his scythes began to float before merging into one weapon using the gravity dust in their pommels, much as Maria's used to do. Gripping the now double ended scythe, Jaune focused aura into it as the fire dust in the blades ignited them, catching Maria off guard as he ran in, spinning his weapon and landing blows before she could recover the fire further whittling away at her aura.

"Match!" the Atlas soldier shouted, "Winner by aura is Jaune Arc!"

"That's my bro!" Saffron cheered, she and Terra running over to hug him even as Lucien pulled Astrid up to her feet. Above their heads, the screen showed that Jaune still had over eighty percent of his aura while Astrid had dipped to thirteen percent from his last strike.

"This changes nothing." Lucien growled, reaching for the Arc family ancestral blade at his side, "Both of you are coming back with me and that is final."

"You really don't get it do you?" Jaune grit his teeth and glared at the man who had sired him, "You don't _get_ to decide what we do. You don't _get_ to decide where we go. I want you out of my life, Saffron wants you out of hers. You may be my father, but we aren't family." Slowly, his burning rage turned into a cold smirk, "But if you want to try kidnapping us in front of all these witnesses and even a member of the Atlas military then by all means try." His smirk vanished in an instant, "But if you try, know that I will fight you every second of the way."

"I'd listen to the boy's words." Ulthane grunted, hefting up the maul he always carried with him, "He is the next Grimm Reaper after all. But until he gets to that point." The maul slams into the ground and cracks the earth "You'd have to get through me." Silently, Lucien eyed the crowd, including the Atlas soldier who had one hand on a pistol and the other on a radio.

"We'll go…but this isn't over." Lucien turned to stare Jaune in the eye, "This will never be over until you accept your place and do what I tell you to boy." With that, the eight Arcs turned and left.

"…That was awesome!" Tony decided to once more, breath the silence.

 **AN: Just to make things clear, the sister Jaune fought was the one in the picture we saw in Saffron's house with the missing tooth, the rightmost one. I'm picturing her as a year or two older than Jaune tops which is why the fight wasn't a curb stomping. If say Saffron had kept with training for all those years she would be able to beat Jaune and Jaune would stand no chance against his dad. He's strong but not unbeatable. And I've already picked out Jaune's and Saffron's semblances, I'm just keeping them a surprise for now.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I recently realized that I forgot to post the pictures mentioned before to Facebook. I'll do my best to have them posted soon.**

 **AN2: I've decided to change the team I'm going to have Jaune be on for this story…partly because I can't remember original team plan. I write down most of my ideas for a reason and when I forget to it causes problems. Anyway, I have some interesting team concepts for who to use.**

 **The first is Adam. I finished season 6 and really feel that Adam was wasted and that they really screwed him over in universe. Honestly I feel Blake is in a large part to blame for how he turned out (I'll have a larger AN at the bottom of the story going into why I think that. It will be a bit lengthy but if you want to know why I think that then it's there). But This will be closer to the Adam I think we should have gotten. Granted, I will be introducing a few scenarios to allow him to join the team and will of course have Character growth, so he doesn't hate all humans, but I'll be treating him how I feel he deserved. But as I said, read the AN at the bottom if you want to know more about my opinions on this.**

 **That still leaves one slot so let me know who you want and why. Doesn't matter who they are so long as they're in the show and close enough to be of age for Beacon.**

Second Coming of the Reaper

Chapter 3

-Cinder-

Standing ramrod straight, not daring to move a muscle, Cinder stared down at the one to whom she had sworn allegiance. At her side stood Mercury and Emerald, the two of them still being forced to get used to the fact that there was someone above Cinder and that said someone was far more dangerous. Sitting at the table were the rest of the inner circle, the members who had all held their seats far longer than her. Ones she knew she likely couldn't beat without the powers of a maiden with their current difference of experience and skill. "Cinder," Salem's voice felt dangerously calm "you assured me that you would be able to succeed without the assistance of your superiors." Cinder winced at the not so subtle remark about her own place amongst the council. Without even looking, she could feel the confusion of Mercury and Emerald at seeing her being taken to task. "So, tell me. Was it hubris…or did you _truly_ think you could lie to me and get away with it?"

"I…hadn't anticipated my plan failing mistress." Cinder weighed her words carefully, knowing she needed to be humble enough to deface herself convincingly but not so much that Salem felt she had no more use and would cast her aside.

"No plan ever survives first contact with the enemy." Watts scoffed, "I thought I was able to drill at least that much into your thick skull."

"I told you that you needed more experienced back up." Hazel sighed, shaking his head dismissively. The last two council members didn't speak but made their own responses, Tyrian cackling and the hooded figure at Salem's right hand letting out an amused humph.

"It _would_ have worked." Cinder insisted hotly, never having taken "But the Fall maiden had help."

"Of course she did." Watts rolled his eyes, "Ozpin wouldn't let a maiden as young an inexperienced as Amber travel around without keeping tabs on her, keeping someone close enough to intervene if she was in danger."

"It wasn't a huntsman though, was it?" the cloaked figure, Morrigan, laughed "You were foiled by a Beacon applicant. One trained by a silver eyed warrior admittedly, but still a mere student."

Glaring at the one person on the council she detested more than Watts, Cinder forced her jaw to unclench, "My strike was planned when Amber was alone. I tracked her patterns and found the most isolated path possible. I had planned to recruit Marcus Black-"

"And failed." Watts piped in, clearly enjoying the fact that Salem wasn't stopping his barbed words for once.

"I got the less run-down Mercury." Cinder ignored the jabs, "And found the unexpected prize in Emerald. Mercury has extensive training under the hand of his father and Emerald has a powerful semblance. I planned a calculated strike using those assets."

"One useful trick does not equal a plan." Hazel grunted, "Perhaps if you recruited Marcus Black at his prime then your plan could have worked. Instead you recruited a couple children and left no room for your plan to change if something went wrong. You should have brought one of us with you."

"You've made your point Hazel, Arthur." Salem spoke up, holding a hand for silence, "I wish to hear exactly what happened at the ambush. And Cinder, do be aware that if you lie to me, I _will_ know." Gulping, Cinder nodded and began explaining.

-Flashback-

Smirking, Cinder saw Amber kneel down and offer an apple to a child that wasn't there. That smirk fell when she saw Amber pause, the woman's gentle smile twisting into a frown, before shooting backwards. With a flick of her wrist, Amber brought out and expanded a collapsible staff, each end capped with a large dust crystal. Illusion foiled, Emerald shot forward, guns blazing only for their target to stop each bullet with her palm, not showing the slightest effort in doing so. Whipping her staff about, Amber summoned fierce winds, hurling the gale towards Emerald, sending the thief flying.

Nodding to Mercury, Cinder watched the him rocket forward, his kick stopped by Amber's staff before the maiden repelled the young assassin. Using Emerald's second charge, Mercury kicked off a fence and shot legs first towards the current Fall Maiden. Without pausing, Amber let loose a gout of condensed flame, going straight for a potential kill shot. Using his robotic legs and aura, Mercury flew through Amber's gout of fire, his prosthetics exposed as he landed a blow on their surprised victim. Amber rolled from the force of the blow, coming to a stop only for Emerald to come crashing down on top of her before Amber could rise back up. Her 'team' glanced at each other, their expressions hidden by the masks they all wore as a precaution.

Cinder smirked at the ease of it all. Clearly someone so weak had no business possessing the powers of a maiden. Powers that rightfully belong to _her_.

Thunk.

Surprised at the sound, Cinder looked to see a scythe in the ground in front of Mercury and Emerald, the base of the weapon glowing royal purple. That surprise, surprise shared by Mercury and Emerald, delayed their understanding of the imminent danger that weapon promised. Head snapping up, Cinder saw a blond around the age of Mercury or Emerald letting out a battle cry, being pulled by the scythe in his hand to the scythe imbedded in the ground. Mercury and Emerald were forced back, taking a couple of grazing wounds apiece as the newcomer reclaimed his second scythe and slid to a stop by Amber.

Not trusting the situation to stay in her favor with a new unknown variable, Cinder charged, readying her semblance and weapons to fight. On the opposite side of the target, Cinder saw Emerald and Mercury doing the same, having realized the importance of taking out the unknown adversary first.

Cinder saw the newcomer help Amber to her feet only for the Fall Maiden to begin to glow, the woman's aura shining brighter than anything Cinder had ever seen before. Amber let out a yell, waving her hand as a new blast of fire rocketed towards Emerald and Mercury, far larger than any attack Amber had used before. Cinder looked towards the newcomer and saw him glowing as well, his hand on Amber's shoulder. The man's aura pulsing and glowing as it spread from his hand to Amber, somehow enhancing the Maiden's abilities.

Eyes literally burning with power, Amber and her rescuer began to float skyward, a storm appearing overhead. Lightning struck and wind howled about them, ice turned leaves into frozen daggers and the earth cracked beneath their feat. The elements were obeying the whims of the Fall Maiden and showed no signs of stopping any time soon.

"We need to fall back!" Mercury shouted, his voice barely audible over the howling storm Amber had summoned. The newcomer seemed too stunned by the appearance of the storm and being suddenly brought into the air to do anything but keep channeling what must have been a semblance.

Gritting her teeth, Cinder's rebuttal died at her lips upon Emerald's scream as the illusionist dodged lightning only to be nearly caught by the sword of the infamous Qrow Branwen. Left no other choice, Cinder grabbed her assets and fled, Branwen staying to see to Amber and the blond man who had foiled her plan.

-End Flashback-

"So it wasn't just Amber getting help that caused you to fail." Watts snorted derisively, "Now the question remains, was the problem that you lacked the proper forethought to make sure nothing would give your little illusion away, or underestimating your opponent by thinking she would never pay attention to her surroundings?"

"Morrigan, you said that the one who intervened was a Beacon applicant yes?" Salem ignored Watts' comments, turning to her right hand, the position that Cinder craved, "Trained by a Silver Eyed Warrior?"

"I did some digging into the current batch of students joining the academies, looking for any that would stand out as Ozpin's recruits." Morrigan leaned forward, fingers interlocked, "The kid didn't attend one of the prepatory academies but was privately trained by the Grimm Reaper herself. Apparently Tock didn't succeed all those years ago." Tyrian's madness turned to a scowl at the mention of his beloved mentor failing in her final mission for Salem.

"Does he have the eyes?" Salem focused on that detail first.

"Baby blues according to his file and pictures, no silver eyes on him. He _is_ an Arc though." Morrigan smirked as that drew the attention of the others at the table bar Mercury and Emerald, the rest of them knowing of the powerful family of warriors, all of them known for having powerful semblances. While powerful, they had before now remained mostly neutral. There were of course times when one was part of Ozpin's inner circle or Salem's, Cinder was positive there had even been a time or two when an Arc _was_ one of Ozpin's bodies.

"An Arc." Salem mused, drumming her fingers on the council table, "One who now has the attention of Ozpin and a Maiden." Salem's gaze turned back to Cinder and her two assets, Mercury and Emerald both gulping nervously at the ancient immortal's gaze. "Cinder, I've decided to give you a chance. One…more… _singular_ , chance. Ozpin won't let Amber out of his domain now, so you'll have to go to Beacon as well. Leo will make transcripts for you to go to Beacon as transfer students for the Vytal festival."

"Thank you Salem," Cinder let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding, "I won't fail you."

"I know." Salem nodded, "Because you aren't going alone…and you aren't in charge. You and your recruits are going under the command of Morrigan." Mercury and Emerald both backed away from Cinder nervously, able to feel her shocked rage that the woman couldn't keep from her face, the expression amusing not only Salem but the person who had the position that Cinder craved and deserved.

"Fear not mistress," Morrigan pulled back her hood as she stood, " _I_ will not fail you." Cinder grit her teeth at that, knowing the barb was directed at her. Morrigan merely smirked at Cinder's rage as Cinder stared into the cold Silver eyes of the Summer Maiden.

 **AN: Alright, for those who care, this is my opinion on the Adam situation. We know that Adam is powerful and dangerous, the man is shown to be leagues beyond the power of the protagonists shown back when he was first introduced. When we first meet him in the Black trailer, he's calm and focused. Adam is apathetic towards the lives that will be lost when the train blows up and just focuses on getting the dust and getting both himself and Blake out alive. Now this is meant to show him as a villain but honestly it comes across more as a field commander. He has his mission and takes it seriously, at the time we didn't know he was in charge of that branch of the White Fang, just that he was in charge of the mission. And if one train car had that much security, imagine how much the rest would have. Blowing up the train would have killed the workers but would also help keep the white fang agents on the mission alive but hide the evidence more to delay people learning about the theft and give the white fang more time to get away from the scene of the crime.**

 **The next time we see him is the cameo after volume two where he simply says he can get the white fang to listen to him again as opposed to them listening to Cinder. This is the beginning of the downfall for how Rooster Teeth portrayed him as it goes against how they wanted him to appear, hating anything to do with humans, more so when in the next season, he initially refuses to help Cinder as he doesn't want the white fang members dying to help a human cause. In that scene, many white fang** _ **had**_ **just died for what could be seen as a human's cause. The wisest idea would have been to take the diminished fang and lay low, hiding somewhere outside the main city to recover and rebuild their numbers, especially as now that Cinder was a known face at the school, she couldn't dedicate time to tracking him down.**

 **During the attack on Beacon, Adam is shown to be more psychotic and obsessive over Blake but that partly ties into how I think Blake has a large chunk of the Blame for how Adam turned out, the other major factors being Ghira, Sienna, and the SDC.**

 **After that we see Adam in season five where he's a screaming ex-boyfriend of Blake's that's swan dived into the crazy pool and doing laps with instability. He gets taken out in one hit by Blake at Haven and was willing to risk his own people's lives to go above and beyond to help Salem, even murdering Sienna who we know he used to obey without question.**

 **Finally we see Adam's character short showing his 'descent' into the monster that Rooster teeth wanted and then Adam's presence in the climax of season six where Blake and Yang murder him to death.**

 **To start with, do I think Adam in the show is some unsung hero who should be the main character? No. Do I think he's an abusive and possessive ex-boyfriend in the show? Yes. But that's because Rooster teeth went with a bit of an easier route.**

 **When it comes to power and skill, Adam is leagues beyond the members of teams RWBY and JNPR. Even back in the Black trailer, he was able to disintegrate a spider droid tank with a single attack. The sheer destructive capability Adam possessed was beyond anything ever shown, even compared to Yang's first use of her semblance. Added to that he was shown to be a lot more focused than Blake was. When Blake was panicking, Adam was still keeping a level head.**

 **During the season three flashback we see that he runs a pretty tight ship and his primary focus is his people's lives and the mission. Furthermore, he not only hears out Cinder but allows her, Mercury, and Emerald to leave. Super violent raging Adam would have killed them on sight for being human but the original Adam, who is closer in line with what I plan to write, is willing to hear them out. He also doesn't plan to go after Blake, writing her off and acknowledging that he has to focus on the mission, not his own desires.**

 **During season three when Blake and Adam meet up again, Adam is calling Blake 'my love' which does go along with the later reinforced idea of them having once been lovers rather than merely mentor and student like Blake said before, which would put Blake as having lied to her team about that aspect. But while he wants to hurt Blake for abandoning him and tries to do so when he sees her, he doesn't chase Blake down, focusing on the mission.**

 **In the trailer short we see him fighting a group of humans who are trying to murder him and the other white Fang members, including Ghira and Sienna. The ringleader of those humans, who openly says that he's shooting at them for being Faunus and going through the town he lives, is about to kill Ghira when Adam kills said human. What's important to note is that the half dozen other shooters, Adam incapacitated without killing, he reacted to this man about to get around the white fang's cover and murder Ghira and who knows how many other Faunus if he got the chance. Adam reacted and used moonslice to kill the man. Adam was shown looking initially guilty for the action, implying this was his first kill. Ghira screws the situation up though by chastising Adam, not only saying that killing the man wasn't necessary but that him ending a life in defense of his own and others is why people think they can treat Faunus like animals. Ghira practically said that Adam should have let the man kill them. Sienna steps in and praises Adam for his actions, calling him a hero and rallying the other fang that are there. This is clearly a power play by Sienna and likely a stepping stone for her resting control of the fang away from Ghira to put herself in charge. Ghira was wrong to condemn Adam and Sienna shouldn't have just done bold praise as the other fang said, 'it was awesome'. They should have taken Adam aside, thanked him for saving them, and made sure he understood that one should only kill when it's the last available choice. Don't condemn, don't heap praise, but educate. Sienna and Ghira were the extremes and this situation abused what appeared to be Adam's desire for belonging. Adam was shown to be very protective in the beginning; protecting Blake in the Black trailer, protecting Ghira in the character short scene, White Fang on missions. He is trying to protect what he still has and to feel their acceptance which allowed Sienna to manipulate him.**

 **He was also a loyal soldier. In the scene during Adam's character short when he and Sienna are attacking an SDC or Atlas facility, Adam is not only always at the front, but he was taking down many of the human guards in non-lethal ways. The last one, the one he was about to stab while down, was still very fit and could have fought back. The man could have likely further sounded an alarm or fought back once he got a new weapon. In that situation it would make sense for Adam to kill the man to mitigate risk to the White Fang on that mission.**

 **Now to how Rooster teeth messed up Adam. We know besides strength and protectiveness Adam has charisma. He inspired loyalty amongst many of the white Fang to the point he was able to perform a coup against Sienna without any visible resistance. That Charisma goes out the window to be replaced with more rage like a blind angry bull. In Haven he was acting like a screaming idiot rather than a gifted and experienced soldier.**

 **Finally, the matter of how Blake is largely to blame for how Adam is. I already explained why I blame Ghira and Sienna and the SDC go without saying given the brand on Adam's eye. But Blake was an enabler. She abandoned her parents to stay with the Fang even after they were violent, but we only see her mildly chastise Adam once and she seemed more annoyed than truly filled with righteous fury. Adam calms her down and makes a good point in that scene in his character short. They were on dangerous missions, at what was basically war with Atlas and the SDC and they're were likely to be casualties on both sides in those intense fights. Adam up to that point hadn't been shown to be going out and looking for people to butcher but he didn't hesitate to kill if the need arose on a mission.**

 **I see Blake as an enabler as she represented what Adam wanted from Ghira. She was someone Adam was close to that he could protect and who cared about him. The fact that she was the daughter of the man he was so driven to protect before would only exacerbate this. Adam stated he was terrified of losing Blake but everything he did he did to protect his people and in which he has a point. With his brand and the statements that Faunus were frequently killed in various ways without people caring, it would take bold action to change things or to get that ball rolling. Adam clearly lived in Atlas at the time and if the SDC could get away with branding Faunus and face no penalty then Atlas was clearly turning a blind eye and saying the law didn't apply to the powerful family. If Blake didn't want Adam killing so much she should have not only confronted him about it but offered other solutions instead of simply frowning, saying he shouldn't kill, then insisting that she wasn't going to abandon the cause like her parents. When she does abandon Adam it's with no real warning, in the middle of nowhere, and after he was in an intense fight where he was protecting her. She goes straight to Vale and joins Beacon where Ozpin doesn't even question letting in a terrorist (something that will be a valid reason to why Adam is allowed to join Beacon in this story). And in the end, Blake lied to her team about her history with Adam, wrote him off as an embodiment of spite, abandoned him to die in the middle of a Grimm filled forest with no backup, and then killed him with Yang. This was** _ **after**_ **they broke his aura and removed his weapon which was stated in fight to be needed for him to use his semblance, I.E Adam was defenseless and relatively powerless, but he still died because they deemed it too dangerous for him to stay alive, the same reasoning Adam gave for killing people early on.**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Just an FYI, the reason there isn't going to be mass panic from the public or students at having Adam attend Beacon is that in this world, people don't know his bloody name. Seriously, the dude wears a mask and I doubt he was out giving interviews to the public, so they had a face to go with it. Without that mask, people wouldn't know him as that dangerous white fang agent. I'm also switching things, so he wore his past fall of Vale outfit when working with the fang and gets the seasons 1-3 outfit when he comes to Beacon as that design is a lot more interesting.**

 **AN2: Still deciding on teammate four but here are some of the options I'm considering:**

 **1\. Vernal. We know Raven and Qrow were sent to Beacon to get stronger so Raven might try to do something similar with one of her bandits.**

 **2\. Ilia or one of the other Faunus from that group we saw in season 6 that serve Adam, the one with the flying Faunus, the one who made webbing, and other combat applicable Faunus traits**

 **3\. One of the Malachite twins, having it where Yang's attack on the Club left one too injured to fight anything more than random drunks at the bar who get too rowdy so the other one had to go to Beacon to get training to become strong enough to handle stronger threats that might come to attack the Club.**

 **AN3: Just wanted to say, I'm kinda amused that most people were very understanding or supportive of my reasoning about the whole Adam thing except for one person who threw a tantrum on that and me doing any team set up besides RWBY and JNPR.**

 **AN4: Last thing is I'm having a hard time thinking of a semblance for Amber so if anyone has any suggestions just let me know.**

Second Coming of the Reaper

Chapter 4

-Ozpin-

Rubbing his temples, Ozpin worked to restrain his frustration at the young woman who was siting in front of him. Beside his troublesome Fall Maiden sat one of his new students, Jaune Arc, who's brain clearly needed more time to reboot from all the information that Amber had told him _without_ permission. Glynda stood by the Elevator and Qrow by the window, neither of them doing much to help. If he didn't know better, Ozpin would have sworn that Glynda was enjoying his suffering and frustration. "Amber, you cannot just keep wandering around on your own now that we _know_ there is someone after you."

"Don't care, I don't work for you." Amber leaned back in her chair, showing that despite her kind and generous nature, the Fall Maiden was still an adolescent and just as rebellious as any other. _Especially_ if someone tried to tell her that she couldn't do something she wanted to.

"Amber, please be reasonable." Ozpin all but pleaded, having been having this rather circular discussion, _again_ , for what felt like hours.

"I am." Amber looked rather smug, "You're asking me to give up my freedoms and do what you want because I inherited some mystical magical bullshit. I didn't _agree_ to be the maiden, nor did I _agree_ to work for you and be your fancy padlock for a tiara."

"Amber!" Ozpin gave a hard look at her and glanced over at Mr. Arc.

"Oh stuff it Ozpin." Amber rolled her eyes, unphased by his expression, "They saw his face, so they'll probably show up after him at some point. Better he learns from me than them and we both know you hate sharing information with people."

"Kid has a point Oz." Qrow grunted, the sound of sloshing liquid showing that the man was drinking again.

"If you have nothing helpful Qrow." Ozpin sighed, the man having been rather happy to help young Mr. Arc given that Qrow's childhood hero was the boy's mentor.

"Now I didn't say I'd _never_ attend Beacon." Amber smirked at him dangerously, "But you're going to have to make it worth my while."

"Are you…extorting me?" Ozpin gaped at her.

"Yep." Amber smiled happily, "Requirement the first, _I_ pick my team. Non-negotiable. You refuse and I walk right now."

"Amber, please see reason." Ozpin began only to see Amber standing up and pulling a very confused Mr. Arc with her, "Wait! Wait! Wait!" he belted out hurriedly as the childish Fall Maiden smirked victoriously. "Fine, you may select your team." He sighed, why oh why couldn't the powers of the maiden have gone to someone willing to listen to reason? "I assume you wish for Mr. Arc to be on that team?"

"His semblance amplifies my aura and even the maiden powers. Of fucking course I'm keeping him!" Amber looked at him like he was an idiot.

"Yeah Oz, what's the matter with you?" a drunk Qrow snickered while even the corners of Glynda's lips twitched amused at him being given the run around in a conversation for once.

"Anything else?" Ozpin grit his teeth and worked to keep his composure. He was thousands of years old, he would not throw a tantrum like an infant to his subordinates' childish actions.

"I want access to the faculty training facilities for me and my team." Amber at least looks somewhat serious as she lists more demands, "Along with a better room for us. I'm planning on getting people who can help if something like that ambush happens, so we need to be able to use the best resources to train."

"That, at least, I don't have any issue with granting." Ozpin sighed in genuine relief, having already planned to let her access those facilities so letting her team do the same wasn't all that big of an issue. "Anything else?" there was no way that his torment would be over already.

"One last thing." Amber smirked as she leaned forward, "I want you to find my horse and I'm keeping them on campus."

"Amber, I'm not sure Beacon is the best place for-" Ozpin began only for Amber to narrow her eyes. Brothers damnit that girl was attached to the creature, "Very well, we will recover your horse and let it stay on campus."

"Yay!" Amber grinned as she got up, "In that case, Jaune and are going to go look through the files for the new students to decide our teammates, maybe kill some Grimm. Later Qrow, later Professor Goodwitch, bye immortal asshole." With that she walked to the elevator and departed. The moment the doors were closed, and she was gone, Qrow and Glynda burst out laughing at the whole mess, much to Ozpin's annoyance.

"That was not funny." He frowned at them, but they just kept laughing.

-Adam-

Coughing up a small patch of blood, Adam continued to work on pulling himself from the river in the Emerald Forest. Wilt and Blush were lost back in the Forever Fall and his clothes were tattered and stained. Getting as firm a grip as he could manage on a root along the shore, Adam pulled himself forward as he remembered how he got into this current situation.

-Flashback-

Exhausted, frustrated, and hungry, Adam stumbled into the White Fang camp of Forever Fall. After Blake betrayed him and left him for dead, he was forced to walk back to the camp. Without any signal that far out in the forest he couldn't call for an extraction and with just himself he couldn't carry any of the dust they had liberated, what little was left on the cars Blake had separated from the rest anyway. He had been walking for the past several days to get back to the camp and finally it was in sight but…where were the guards?

Wary, Adam put his hand on Wilt's handle and entered camp to see the Fang of the Vale Chapter surrounding what looked like a makeshift stage. He had only been with the Vale branch for a couple of weeks before the train heist, so he didn't know the camp like the back of his hand yet, but he was sure the camp had never been there, nor had the cloaked woman and what seemed to be a Scorpion Faunus who stood atop it. Perhaps Banesaw had been recruiting? Getting closer, Adam saw the same woman who had come to attempt to acquire the White Fang as her tools to destroy a Kingdom before the train heist.

"You." His shock and frustration carried as all heads turned towards him, Cinder smirking and seemed about to start talking, when the cloaked woman held her hand out to her for silence as Cinder looked furious but didn't fight.

"Adam." Banesaw stepped forward, getting off the stage where he stood beside Tyrian "Where is Blake?" Adam was on edge at the question, not just at the topic but at the definite hostile tone in the man's voice.

"Blake has betrayed us." Adam was tense, his every instinct screaming danger, "She separated the train cars and left me in the middle of the forest. I've had to walk back. Now, why are those humans back here? I already told them I would not waste Faunus lives for their human cause."

"Silence Heretic!" the scorpion Faunus cackled, "You dare to insult emissaries of the great goddess?" the deranged Faunus likely would have said more if the cloaked woman hadn't held up her hand for his silence.

"Goddess? What goddess? What are you talking about?" Adam demands, sensing that while he was gone, these Fang Agents had been swayed by this group, he didn't have their loyalty before that mission, and it was likely too late now.

"I suppose it isn't surprising that you are unaware of the truth of the matter, Cinder doubles stated that everything was her plan and that she would have been the one in command." The cloaked woman all but purred as she approached him, "But in truth, we both serve someone far great, far more _powerful_. The goddess Salem, the oldest being on Remnant, the first one to attempt to save the Faunus." The woman snapped her hands as the air began to fill with an intense gravity, then her hand was wreathed in flames, and then lightning struck from the sky but was redirected at her whims. A display of power and one that was done as diversely as possible to reveal that it wasn't a semblance. "My power is a gift through her, and she has need of stalwart blades to aide in the fall of the Kingdom of Vale."

"You pushed away emissaries of a goddess!" Banesaw growled out at him, "With these people, we could slaughter every human in Vale!"

"You're sounding like a Schnee." Adam gave him a hard look, he killed without remorse, but he didn't go looked for mindless slaughter, each death he dolled out served a purpose "And how do we know these people are even telling the truth?"

"Silence the heretic!" the scorpion yelled out, "He will betray you! He has already returned without the princess of our kind!" Fuck. Sensing the growing hostility, Adam turns tail to run, needing to get to a safe place he could contract help. Assuming this madness hadn't spread further within the fang.

"Kill him!" Cinder shouted out, her two peons charging along with the fang, the thunderous sound of footsteps drowning out any sound that might have come from the cloaked woman. Adam ran as fast as he could between the trees, pushing his exhausted body past any limits he had. Something flew overhead and bounced off a tree and he saw a grenade. Reacting quickly, Adam performed what little he could for moonslice, his energy all but spent and hoping it would shield him. The explosion was diverted but his blade was sent flying and he had no time to retrieve it.

"Kill the traitor!" a distorted voice he's positive came from one of Cinder's peons in the midst of the mob shouts, likely to further egg on the crazed Fang branch and without his blade he couldn't use his semblance, assuming he had enough energy left to try anyway. Up ahead, Adam could hear the sound of rushing water, was that a river? The sound of water was soon drowned out by the bang of a gunshot as he felt a burning pain in his side and stumbled, rolling down a hill to his body hit the river with a crash and the currents swept him away, the sound of the mob fading in the distance.

-End Flashback-

Pulling himself out of the memory just as he managed to pull most of his body to shore, Adam lay there panting. Cursing his own weakness, he felt his vision growing dark but as he lay there he swore he saw two figures approaching, one of them reaching out with a hand that glowed white.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hey everybody, wanted to give a heads up that I've decided on the final team member as well as the semblance for Amber. I'm going with the suggestion of 'compound' from Wolveblade. For the final team member I'm going with Melanie Malachite (the one in white who fights with kicks for those who don't remember which Malachite is which) and her semblance is already picked out too.**

 **AN2: Also, I'm going to make Jaune's semblance a little more realistic for its healing. It can still heal but being able to bring Weiss back from the brink of death in seconds on his first try? Near fatal injuries will take more time to heal.**

Second Coming of the Reaper

Chapter 5

-Adam-

Gasping for air, Adam shot up, his wounds protesting but not with the screaming fury he expected from the condition he remembered being when he crawled from the river. Blinking spots from his eyes, Adam noted that he was laying on a cot with bandages around his wound which felt at least partially healed. "Hey, you're up." Looking over, Adam saw a blonde man washing his hands at a sink, bloody bandages laying nearby the man. "I'd suggest taking it easy, you were touch and go for awhile there and your wounds haven't fully healed."

"Who are you?" Adam demanded, "Where am I?" he didn't recognize the building they were in nor did he recognize the man with bloody clothes who stood across from him. He didn't show any noticeable Faunus traits, but Adam was more than aware that many were hidden.

"Name's Jaune," the now named blond told him without even batting an eye at Adam's tone, "and you're in a Hunter's Lodge in the Emerald Forest. Now that you're up I'm going to need you to drink this." The man pulled out a bottle of some sort of liquid.

"No." Adam backed away from the vial as best as he could with his back to a wall.

"I'm not going to poison you after I spent all that time healing your ass and ruined my clothes by getting them covered in blood." Jaune deadpanned but, when Adam kept his eyes narrowed in suspicion, sighed and popped open the bottle to drink some. "Better?"

"What is this?" Adam took the bottle warily and sniffed it.

"I call it King's Foil elixir." Jaune explained, "A friend of mine back home, Tony, was a Faunus and kept doing stupid shit and got hurt. He was a hunter training dropout, so he had aura and that made him reckless sometimes. We found an herb that we dubbed the King's Foil which helped a Faunus' Aura replenish. Doesn't do jack for humans sadly but hey, what can you do." Jaune shrugged "My semblance helped stabilize you and I bandages those wounds, but my abilities work best if you already have at least some Aura to work with. I should be able to get you moving again once you drink that."

Adam had been studying Jaune the entire time the blond was talking and couldn't find any sign the man was lying which, when paired with the earlier point of why poison Adam after going through all the trouble of saving him, caused the Bull Faunus to sigh. "Very well." He grumbled before drinking the potion down, grimacing at the taste even as he felt his aura begin to spark and replenish faster.

"Thank you!" Jaune sighed before holding out glowing white hands, ones he now recognized as the sight he had seen when he went under. As the hands came close the glow went from Jaune to Adam himself as he gasped, feeling his returning Aura swell greater than it ever had before. His skin began to itch and tingle as he felt his wounds stitching themselves closed. The entire time, Jaune didn't speak, his eyebrows knit together with intense focus as the man worked on healing him. "There, that should do it." Jaune grunted, rising up and cracking his back, "There are some sweatpants and shirt in that dresser you can wear." Jaune nodded to said container, "I'm going to go let my partner know you're stable."

"Why." Adam only realized he was the one to say that when Jaune turned from the door and raised an eyebrow in question, "I'm a Faunus, why help me?" was the man a Faunus? Did he want something? Or was he one of the rare humans he had found outside Vacuou who didn't care if someone was a Faunus.

"I'm a Huntsman." Jaune told him seriously, the man's every fiber coursing with a determination, a passion that couldn't be faked, "A Huntsman be thou for the People. My duty is to save lives where I can, to only take life in the pursuit to save more lives in the future. I wasn't about to abandon someone I found injured and dying, whether they be Faunus or Human." With that the blond turned and left Adam alone in the Cabin.

-Jaune-

"So, how's sleeping beauty?" Amber asked as Jaune stepped outside, catching the apple she tossed his way.

"Alive and stable." Jaune nodded gratefully as he took a bite of the fruit, "He woke up, so I gave him an elixir to make his Aura start regenerating faster and gave him another healing session with my semblance. He's changing into those sweats we found now."

"He say what put him in that state we found?" Amber frowned as she finished her own apple, tossing the core over her shoulder lazily.

"No but I didn't ask. He seemed surprised enough that we would even help a Faunus, so I didn't want to push things." Jaune shook his head before looking down at his blood caked clothes, "And these are ruined now too, wonderful."

"I know a guy who can get you some new duds." Amber smirked, "Something a little sharper than jeans and a hoodie too."

"Hey now, don't diss the hoodie. It's comfortable." Jaune teased before looking back at the cabin when he heard the door open and saw the bull Faunus stepping outside. "Hey," Jaune nodded to the man, "this is my partner Amber and…I never got your name, did I?" Jaune gave a sheepish grin as he rubbed the back of his head.

"…Adam." The now named Faunus answered, "Adam Taurus."

"Well it was good to meet you Adam, despite the, um, circumstances." Jaune winced at how that sounded, thankful Adam just gave a short nod. The man's guarded attitude one he recognized from several Faunus he had met who were wary of discrimination.

"We're heading into Vale proper; do you need a lift?" Amber asked, "I need to get Jaune new clothes."

"I…would appreciate a ride." Adam nodded, "I would need to acquire a new weapon in Vale anyway."

"Are you a huntsman?" Amber asked, eyes sparkling with curiosity and Jaune instantly knew she was evaluating Adam as a potential third member for their team.

"I have aura, a semblance, and training." Adam dodged the question and Jaune noted Amber's eyes glow faintly. Before another question could be asked, Jaune heard a lumbering thud on the ground. Spinning, he saw an Ursa major entering the clearing, likely drawn by Adam's initial panic and fear when the man had first woken up. Amber, apparently having already been tapping into the magic of the fall Maiden, whirled as well and held her palm out towards the bear Grimm, fire flowing from her as it incinerated the Ursa with ease.

"You, you're like her." Adam snarled, now on edge.

"What are you talking about?" Amber asked him seriously, her eyes still glowing only now it was more noticeable.

"The cloaked woman." Adam snarled, moving his hand as if to grip a sword at his side, "The one who served 'Salem'. Your power is just like hers!"

"Salem has a Maiden?" Amber paled, "Fuck this is bad. This is very bad!" Amber's gaze hardened, "Adam, I need you to tell me what happened now."

When Adam remained silent and guarded, Jaune stepped forward, "Think Adam. If we worked for the people who put you in this state why would we save your life and then openly show those abilities?" that gave Adam pause as he considered the words.

"Very well. I will tell you." Adam looked ready to bolt at any moment but revealed that he was White Fang from the vale Branch, having just come to the Kingdom. How he was on a mission to rob a Schnee train when his partner abandoned him to die. How a woman named Cinder had tried to hire him to overthrow Vale and it had failed but when he returned the camp a new woman was there with powers just like Ambers. That the woman claimed the powers were a gift from a 'goddess' named Salem. And finally, Adam told about the cell's betrayal and the murder attempt.

"You were White Fang?" Jaune looked surprised, having heard that the Fang would never tolerate having a human around without making their distaste known at least. Granted he took those tales with a grain of salt, but it was still somewhat surprising.

"I fight for my people." Adam gestured to the branded and blinded eyeball with the letters SDC seared permanently into his flesh, "To stop others from suffering as I did."

"And what if I gave you a chance to do that and more?" Amber asked him, "In exchange for me agreeing to go to Beacon, Ozpin agreed to let me pick my team. I could get you enrolled in a Huntsmen Academy. Having a Hunter's License would give you at least some clout and let you start working on change. Plus I can help you with your goals in a new way. Plus, I'm part of a faction trying to stop Salem and her ilk. Work with me and you'll have your chance to deal with that group again."

"You think Beacon would allow a white fang operative into their ranks?" Adam scoffed.

"Ozpin let in that Blake girl you mentioned." Amber shrugged, pulling out her scroll where she had been looking through the first-year applicant files, "And he even knew she was White Fang when she got into Vale on that train and went straight to the Academy. He won't really have any room to protest."

"How do you know you can trust me?" Adam frowned but to Jaune, it seemed Adam wished to agree, even if just for the resources to make change and the change to get revenge on those who had tried to murder him.

"I'm a Maiden, I can actually use my power to sense if you're lying to me." Amber smirked and gestured to the glowing eyes, "I'll even tell you what I know of Salem and the war she's waged against Remnant for centuries. Now come on, you can come with us to where I was going to get Jaune his new clothes. I know a guy, Junior, who runs a club. He has some threads for Jaune and can get you a new sword until you can get one better suited to your preferences."


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Alright everyone, I already said that Adam's design is going to be the one he had initially, the coat with the rose on it. I've decided to use a Jaune fan art I found for his (just sans the sword, image will go up onto Facebook). I plan to update Melanie's design as well, at the very least giving her the claws her sister uses along with her own heels. Any suggestions for updates to the combat outfits for Melanie or Amber will be happily listened to. If I use the suggestion, credit will be given.**

 **AN2:** **AN: Hey everybody! I wanted to apologize for being silent for so long, things have been crazy. A few weeks ago my (then) Fiancé got a job offer in the Virgin Islands so since then the two of us have gotten married, I quit my job, we packed up what we could, flew down here, are going through a honeymoon period, and I'm looking for work here on St. Thomas Island. I hope to update more regularly now that the hassle of the move is over, but we'll see. Also, if anyone reading is a business owner/manager here on St. Thomas and are hiring or know someone who is, I'd appreciate a PM.**

Second Coming of the Reaper 6

Chapter 6

-Jaune-

Leaning back in his booth, Jaune sipped at the glass of Scotch that Amber had ordered for him. Adam meanwhile had a bottle of Sake with a Saucer. Amber's friend, a man named Junior, had pulled through and gotten both Jaune and Adam some rather nice new clothes, their outfits apparently being initial ideas for the uniform that Junior's employees would wear before the man had decided to settle on something simpler.

"The wounds holding up alright?" Jaune asked his apparent new teammate, sipping his drink as he stayed rooted in his seat. Everything had been going on in a near rush since he had met Amber and he was appreciating having some time without the bubbly brunette dropping any more bombshells for him to be able to process everything.

"As well as can be expected." Adam was stiffly neutral with him but that was likely the best Jaune could hope for at this point. Glancing over, he saw Amber going from worker to worker, catching up with the very happy people who were talking to everyone. The Club's Owner, Junior, had told one of his workers to get the clothes he and Adam were wearing out of the back before going upstairs to find someone else. "How did you even meet her anyway?" Adam asked, leaning back against his seat and drinking his Sake.

"I was heading to Beacon." Jaune snorted amused, "My teacher's idea, a bit of 'character building', wandering the wilds before I got to the Academy and the cushy safety of a Kingdom Capital. I took a bullhead to the continent and then began my journey. I got lucky and came across Amber when she was being attacked so I interfered to help her. By what you described it was the same people who showed up to your camp that first time."

"Cinder." Adam spat, the man's dead black eyes narrowing sinisterly.

"Yeah." Jaune nodded, "We got taken by her ally Qrow to Beacon where she got Ozpin to agree to what she wanted in exchange for her being a student."

"Your teacher?" Adam frowned, "You didn't go to an academy?"

"I was an Apprentice, the heir to the Grimm Reaper." Jaune gave a confident smirk as Adam's jaw dropped at the name of the legendary Huntress.

"Hey boys, how're the drinks?" Amber slid into the booth, giving them a grin as she held an exceedingly large mug of beer.

"They're good." Jaune nodded as Adam gave a grunt.

"This place always has the best drinks around." Amber stretched happily, "And I can't wait for you to meet my friends Mil and Mel, those two are awesome! I wonder what's bugging Junior though, he seemed off." As if summoned, Jaune noticed the large man, Junior, return with two girls. One of whom was limping with the aide of crutches. "Mil!" Amber's tankard hit the ground with a thud as she ran over to the girl that was apparently her old friend. "Mil! Who did this to you?" Amber looked horrified and clearly wants to clutch her friend close but is resisting for fear of making the situation worse.

"Some blonde huntress in training." Junior scowled, "She came in demanding information, information I actually didn't have. When she didn't it she grabbed my nuts and squeezed. I could tell then that she had aura as she actually strained mine with that little stunt."

"She got Junior out onto the dance floor and acted like she was going to kiss him." The uninjured sister, Mel if Jaune remembered correctly, picked up, "When he leaned in she decked him in the teeth and sent him flying back. We tried to get rid of her, but she didn't just have aura but her weapons, fucking shotgun gauntlets. She started firing and attacking even with the civilians in here. Junior hasn't actively trained in years and the two of us have never had the time for dedicated huntsmen training. She demolished us with what she had and some crazy ass semblance. Mil…Mil got beaten badly, took injuries even after her Aura got broken. She'll recover but I'm not sure to what degree she'll be able to fight again afterward."

"I can get you into Beacon Mel." Amber didn't even hesitate, "That will let you get the training you need, and we can even find the one who did this to you."

"But what about the bar?" Mel protested, "While Mil could probably handle any civilians making trouble once she recovers and maybe even some people above regular civilians she's still hurt now."

"I can help with that." Adam spoke up, looking seriously at Junior, "Provided you're willing to agree to my terms."

"What are you talking about?" Junior grunted, leaning at the bar with a bottle of rum as he began to pour, "I need details kid."

"I had a team back on Menagerie." Adam spoke up, draining his saucer of Sake, "All Faunus with unique traits that gave them extra abilities, some even comparable to a semblance. I devoted extra resources I saved and acquired on my own to have them trained and prepped. If the cell that betrayed me was swayed so quickly then this group clearly has more tricks and resources than I know of, more ways to coerce. I plan to send my team an order to come to Vale. I do already see Faunus working for you. Agree to let them operate out of your bar and I'll have them act as added security here."

"I can vouch for Adam." Amber spoke up, "Trust me, he isn't lying."

"Deal kid." Junior grunted, offering a large hand for Adam to shake, "So long as you help look after Melanie at Beacon." Junior's face darkens, "If anyone hurts my girls again, I'll rip their spine out and beat em with it! They'll see why I was called the Bear of Vale."

"I'll need a Scroll to contact my team." Adam spoke only up as one of the grunts brought one over instantly.

"Untraceable burn scroll. Has one call ready and then will wipe itself clean for a new number." The well clad bar grunt explained before going back to their post in the building.

"You know, I never actually agreed to this right?" Mel asked with a raised eyebrow as Adam walked off to make a call, "Don't I get a say in this?"

"I'm giving you a chance to kick ass harder than ever and get back at the bitch who hurt Mil. Are you saying you don't want that?" Amber raised an eyebrow at her friend who just looked away and huffed while her sister and Junior snickered.

Watching the interaction, an idea struck Jaune as he frowned, "Hey Amber, let me see your scroll." He held his hand out.

"Um, sure, but why?" She asked even as she handed over the device.

"A hunch." Setting it on the table where the whole group could see, Jaune pulled up the files of the various students joining Beacon this year. "Let's see, remove all male students." He input some commands on the scroll as roughly half of the profile images went away. "Now blondes only." Only a handful were left, and the bar trio instantly scowled, pointing at one in particular.

"Her." Junior growled, low and deep in his throat, genuinely sounding like an angry bear, "That's the bitch who hurt my girls, thrashed my boys, and wrecked my bar."

"Good thinking Jaune." Amber nodded happily only to still when she noticed Jaune rigid and glaring at a different image on the scroll, "Jaune, what's wrong?"

"It looks like there are two blondes we'll be having trouble with at Beacon." Jaune spat, "I told you about my family Amber, well it looks like we're about to meet one of them. It seems we'll be attending Beacon with my twin sister, Joan Arc."


End file.
